To Watch:
Measure 200: Anti-Affirmative Action
"Would prohibit state and local government entities from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any individual or group based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin."

Measure 688: Minimum Wage
Would increase the minimum wage for those under 18 years of age in 1999 and 2000 and thereafter adjust it for inflation.

Measure 692: Medical Use of Marijuana
Would allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes for "qualifying patients," including those with HIV, cancer, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma.

Measure 694: Partial-Birth Abortion
Would make abortion a crime except when it is necessary to save the life of the mother.

Washington had been historically Democratic for years. But changes in the state's economy and an influx of newcomers has led to political instability in the Evergreen State. In recent times, while the state has voted Democratic in the last three presidential contests (it was one of the nine states, plus the District of Columbia, that Democrat Michael Dukakis won in 1988), Washington voted Republican for president in the four previous contests (in the 1970s and 1980s). A Democrat has held the governor's mansion since 1984. Control in the Senate, House and state Legislature is split. In 1994, Washington's House delegation shifted more than any other state's, with six of nine seats moving from Democratic to Republican. Conservative Republicans maintained their dominance in these same races in 1996. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray is one of three women elected in 1992 ("The Year of the Woman") who is seeking re-election this year. Murray ran her campaign in 1992 with the slogan "Mom in tennis shoes." The other woman Senator seeking re-election this year is Maryland Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski. Democrat Gary Locke made history in 1997 when he became the nation's first governor of Chinese ancestry.